David Duchovny looks back with regret at his relationship with ‘X-Files’ co-star Gillian Anderson: “I’m sorry”

Seven years after the 218th and last episode of The X-Files aired, David Duchovny, who played special agent Fox Mulder, has decided it’s time to bury the hatchet with his old co-star Gillian Anderson (Dana Scully).

The X-Files is regarded as one of the best TV series produced during the the 1990s, gaining cult status with millions of fans worldwide. But what viewers didn’t know was that the show’s two main characters had a frosty relationship off-screen and were hardly on speaking terms during filming.

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Silly misunderstandings

Both have spoken openly about their relationship: the tension, stony silences, and occasional disagreements – from the trivial (Duchovny grew irritated waiting around during Anderson’s frequent trips to her stylist; her hair would instantly “go frizzy” in rainy Vancouver), to more important matters, like when Anderson found out that Duchovny was earning double the fee she was getting.

“We worked 16, 17-hour days, nine months a year, five and half days a week – we were always together. I don’t know what the answer is, it’s just that we were too much together,” Gillian told Jonathan Ross in 2019.

David has admitted pretty much the same, and said he has suffered guilt from how their relationship was not as harmonious it could and should have been.

David Duchovny comes clean about his treatment of X-Files co-star

Last year, Duchovny made the brave move of inviting his former ‘X-Files’ co-star onto his Fail Better podcast to “talk through all the things should have been said at the time” but for one reason or another, were left unsaid.

“I guess I would talk about my failure of friendship or my failure of companionship or co-starringness. There was a long time, working on the show when we were just not even dealing with one another off camera. And there was a lot of tension which didn’t matter apparently, for the work, because we’re both f**king crazy I guess – we can just go out there and do what we needed to do. I could have handled myself better”.

Anderson agreed, “It’s crazy that we were able to present on camera the various feelings and emotions and attraction and all that kind of stuff, but then not speak to each other for weeks at a time or whatever!”

Duchovny added that handling fame and media attention, even in the pre-internet days, was something he found difficult. “I was trying to figure out who I am in all of this, what’s my part in this? I want to take advantage of it, like how do I make this into my career? And I quit the show seven years later. I never apologized to you for that, I don’t know if I even talked to you about it”.

Duchovny and Anderson bury the hatchet

Fortunately time heals all wounds and both Duchovny and Anderson are old and wise enough to apologize if there were any misunderstandings. Today, they are good friends and without work getting in the way, their relationship is the best it’s ever been.

“It’s nice for me to be able to say ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘I regret’ or ‘I could have done better.’ David He concludes, ”Because once that’s out, all that’s left is gratitude and that’s the best place to be.”

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